Ponyboy and the Soc
by JBS-Forever
Summary: No one can figure out why Ponyboy is spending all his time with the new Soc in town. One-shot.


**I found this story when I was looking through some of my documents and thought it would be fun to post until my next story starts. I wrote this a long time ago, so don't judge too harshly. It was originally supposed to be an entire story, not just a one-shot.**

**Hope you guys like it. It's weird :)**

**Enjoy.**

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"Hey, Pone," I call. "Come here a second."

Ponyboy, who is outside on the porch, looks at me through the screen door before he decides to come in.

"What's up?" He asks.

"Let's talk about something," I say, catching the shoe that Steve throws at me. When I see that it's not mine, I throw it back.

"Talk about what?"

"You haven't been talking to me lately," I say. "What's going on with you and that Soc you've been hanging out with?"

"Did you ask him about that Soc yet?" Steve yells from the kitchen.

"Shut up!" I call back. I turn to Ponyboy, who looks down.

"He ain't a Soc," he mutters. "And it doesn't matter. I can hang out with other people, can't I?"

"Of course you can," Darry says as comes into the living room, stringing his work belt around his waist. "But you don't need to be hanging out with Socs. Not with everything that's happened. We don't need more trouble."

"I ain't causing trouble," Ponyboy says defensively. "And he ain't a Soc. He's just a guy."

I look between my two brothers.

Things have been different lately. Darry has been trying his hardest to be more understanding with Ponyboy-especially after he let us read the assignment he turned in that kept him from failing his English class. But within the last week, Ponyboy has become more distant. A new kid moved into town and Ponyboy has been drawn to him ever since.

The only thing we can't understand is why. The boy is clearly a Soc, from head to toe, but there must be something that draws him to Ponyboy, too.

"Aw, leave him alone," Two-Bit says, slinging an arm around Ponyboy's shoulders. "I got my eye on him. No Soc is gonna do anything."

"It's just weird," I say.

"Well I didn't ask for your opinion," Ponyboy snaps, looking flustered. He pushes Two-Bit's arm off him and storms back outside.

We all share a silent look.

"That was different," Darry says. "What is up with him lately?"

"I dunno," I sigh. "But I'll try to figure it out."

XxX

I beat Darry home after work and find Two-Bit watching TV in the living room. Ponyboy is gone, still hanging out with the Soc, and Two-Bit follows me into the kitchen to tell me about the mysterious boy.

"You met him, too?" I exclaim. He nods, taking a swig of chocolate milk from the jug I'm holding.

"I did. I was trying to keep an eye on Ponyboy and they met up."

"What's he like?" I ask.

"He's…" Two-Bit frowns, looking serious. "He's different. He's…I can't explain it. Something about him is familiar. He's just…different."

I sigh. "Thanks for clearing that up."

"Maybe you should meet him," Two-Bit suggests. "I mean, if he's hanging out with Ponyboy all the time, don't you wanna know something about him?"

"I don't want a Soc in my house," I say. "That's uncharted territory."

Two-Bit shakes his head. "He ain't a Soc. Not really. He's nice, Sodapop. It's weird."

"This whole thing is weird," I conclude. Two-Bit laughs and nods, chucking me upside the head.

XxX

Three days later, Steve is under a car when he tells me that he got some information about the Soc Ponyboy is hanging out with.

"His name is Cam," he tells me. "No one knows where he lives or where he's from."

"What?" I ask.

"Apparently none of the Socs know who he is and no one from our side does either. The kid wasn't lying-he really ain't a Soc."

I bite my lip, looking up at the ceiling. "Then what is he?"

"Just a guy," Steve says, rolling out from under the car. "Just leave the kid be, Soda. He's just hanging out with someone. Don't you want him making friends instead of moping around all the time?"

"I do," I say. "But don't you think it's weird that no one knows who this kid is? He just appeared out of nowhere."

Steve shrugs. "It's only weird cause you're making it."

I eye him for a long moment. "You met him, didn't you?"

Steve tries to hold back a smirk and I kick the creeper he's lying on, sending him rolling a few feet. He jumps up and slugs me in the arm, laughing.

"Chill, Soda," he says. "He seems like an okay kid. I'm sure Ponyboy will be fine."

"I guess," I sigh. "But tell me, what's he like? Two-Bit says he's different. That he's familiar."

Steve nods, wiping his hands on a rag. "He sure ain't like the Socs or greasers around here. He gives me this weird feeling, like déjà vu."

I lean back against the counter and sigh again.

XxX

Ponyboy keeps us waiting for dinner as he talks on the phone. Darry gets impatient and tells him to hurry it up, that the food is getting cold. He joins us a moment later.

"Talking to Cam?" I ask casually. He nods, piling food onto his plate.

"You ain't like in love with him or something, are you?" I blurt out. Darry chokes on his drink and Ponyboy drops his fork.

"No!" He says, his ears turning bright red. "Soda!"

I laugh. "I was just asking."

"Jesus, Sodapop," Darry chokes out. "Subtlety ain't your strong point, is it?"

"Not really," I say, scooping some food onto my own plate. Ponyboy takes a moment to recover before he grabs his fork again.

"He's just a good buddy," he says. "He's fun to hang out with."

"Does he have a last name?" I ask.

Ponyboy nods. "Deaniy."

"Why're you so curious, Sodapop?" Darry asks me. "You're turning into a detective. Are you jealous of Ponyboy hanging out with someone?"

"No," I say hastily. "I'm just a little concerned that he's hanging out with someone that no one knows. Nobody knows where he lives or where he's from, Dar. I just think it's weird."

Darry frowns. "That is a little weird. Do you know where he lives, Ponyboy?"

Ponyboy runs his hands over his face. "No, I don't. But I don't think it matters."

"I don't like you hanging out with someone that no one knows anything about," Darry says. "We don't know what his intentions are."

"Intentions?" Ponyboy asks. "Why does he have to have intentions? Can't he just be hanging out with me?"

"Ponyboy, that's not-" I start, but it's too late. We've made Ponyboy mad.

"Why is it so weird that someone wants to be my friend?" He demands. "Am I supposed to be a social outcast forever?"

"Don't talk like that," Darry snaps. "You ain't an outcast."

"Then why are you guys treating me like the idea of having friends is impossible?!"

"Ponyboy Michael, watch the attitude," Darry says sharply.

Ponyboy sits back in his chair furiously, crossing his arms over his chest.

There's a knocking at the door.

Darry growls and I jump to my feet, wanting to spare whoever is there from the wrath I know my oldest brother is feeling. They start arguing again the moment I'm out of the room.

I open the door and freeze.

The Soc - -_Cam_, is here. He looks up at me with big eyes and I feel the déjà vu wash over me, just like Steve said. It's the first time I've seen Cam up close.

"Hi," he says shyly. "Um, Ponyboy forgot his book."

He extends the book out, waiting for me to take it, but I hesitate for a moment. It seems to make him uneasy and he starts to lower his hand again, looking uncertain.

"I…have the right house, right?" He asks, stepping back to look at the numbers. "Well, I can hear Ponyboy yelling, so I must have the right house."

"You do," I say, shaking out of my stupor. "Sorry about the noise. Would you like to come in?"

"Sure," he says. I step back and allow him inside. The moment both feet are through the door, the fighting in the dining room stops.

"Good timing," I mutter. I call out, "Ponyboy, Cam is here."

As I expect, both Ponyboy and Darry emerge, no longer looking flustered or mad.

"Hey," Ponyboy says.

"Hey. Here's your book," Cam says, handing him the book. I catch a glimpse of the name as he hands it over. _Gone with the Wind._

"Thanks," Ponyboy says sincerely. Darry is giving him an odd look.

"Um," I clear my throat. "Do you wanna stay for dinner?"

Cam smiles. "Thanks, but I can't."

"Have to get home?" Darry asks. I give him a look and he smirks.

"In a way," Cam says. "See ya later, Ponyboy. Nice meeting you, Darry, Sodapop."

Darry, ever the polite host, reaches out to shake his hand. I give him a smile and bid him farewell before watching him walk down the steps. I close the door once he disappears into the night.

"Is that the one Johnny gave you?" I ask Ponyboy, who is now sitting on the couch, running his fingers gently over the cover of the book.

He nods, but doesn't say anything. Darry sits down next to him and I know he's afraid that I might have upset Ponyboy by bringing up Johnny.

"What was Cam doing with it?" He asks.

"I forgot it," Ponyboy says. "We were reading it."

"I thought-" I cut myself off. I don't need to make Ponyboy upset.

"He helped me," Ponyboy says quietly. "That's why I was hanging out with him so much. That's why I liked him."

"Helped you what?" I ask, sitting on the arm of the couch.

"He helped me finish the story," Ponyboy says. He hands me the book and I take it carefully. "That's all he was here for. To help me finish the story."

I don't understand what he means, but when the next day rolls around, he disappears for a few hours and then comes home alone. He doesn't leave to hang out with Cam again.

When I ask why, he tells me Cam moved back home. That he was only visiting temporarily and that's why he was spending so much time with him.

When I talk to some other greasers to see where he went back to, they tell me they have no idea who he is. They claim they never saw a new kid. They never heard of Cam.

I don't know what happened to him, but the feeling he left behind lingers for a long time. It seems to bring us all together, but we don't know why. Something in those familiar eyes, in that déjà vu that he carried around him.

And one day, when I'm flipping through the pages of Ponyboy's book, I notice that under Johnny's writing is a new sentence.

"_Ride into the night gallantly_," it reads. Then it's signed "_Cam John Deaniy._"

And I never knew what that meant. And I never saw that boy again.

But I always wonder what made him come into Ponyboy's life just to help him finish a book.

I'll probably never know.


End file.
